Is Life Happening To You or For You?

Recently, I’ve been thinking about something Tony Robbins once said: there’s a difference between seeing life as something that happens to you, and as something that happens for you.

Even though we can’t control everything we encounter in life, we do have the power to choose our response to whatever happens to come our way. When things don’t go the way we had hoped, will we see ourselves as the victim — passively standing by and bemoaning our bad luck? Or will we choose to see the difficult times as opportunities to learn and grow?

This doesn’t mean we whitewash or dismiss the hard or painful times — pretending to be happy when we’re experiencing sadness or loss. But it does mean acknowledging that we can still choose what we do with those times.

Just like manure, some of the things we experience may just plain stink. And yet these same things can end up acting as a fertilizer of sorts, eventually promoting growth and depth in our lives.

This doesn’t make these times easier, just as the fact that manure can be used to help crops grow doesn’t take away the smell or make it any more pleasant. But it does remind us that sometimes the things we least expect can turn out to be for our good.